Tuesday 3 April 2018

Slow Cooker Lasagna

My lot love lasagna but it can be quite time consuming to make so I was keen to attempt it in the slow cooker. The final result was certainly tasty but there is no doubt the traditional oven method is better, however the simplicity and ease of using a slow cooker, especially in the caravan, does make this lasagna a winner and we will be making it again. It's a dish that will evolve over time as we try different ingredients, cheeses and timings. If you do give it a go please let me know how you get on and any ingredient changes you make. As it is tweaked I think it will get better and better.


Ingredients:

800g Mince Beef
1x Red pepper, finely diced
2x Onions, finely diced
2x Carrots, finely diced
2x Garlic cloves, crushed
3x Celery sticks, diced
1x Beef stock cube
680g Passata
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1tbsp Red wine vinegar
1tsp Mustard powder
1tsp Dried mixed herbs
2tsp Lemon juice
1x Handful of fresh basil, chopped
Lasagna sheets
200g Mozzarella, grated
400g Cheddar, grated
350ml Double cream

For the topping:
Cheddar
Parmesan

Method:

1. Brown the mince either in a frying pan or like I do in the oven. Break the mince up in an oven tray and roast on gas mark 6 for 45 minutes, but every 15 minutes or so remove the mince and break it up with a wooden spoon. The idea is to get lovely browned grains of mince and all the water evaporated. When browned allow to cool.
2. Mix the meat in a bowl with all the veg, herbs, sauces and spices.
3. In a separate bowl combine the mozzarella, cheddar and cream.
4. In the slow cooker layer the meat sauce, lasagna sheets then cheese sauce and keep repeating until all gone. The top should be meat sauce for the slow cooking but top with grated cheddar and parmesan half an hour before serving. Cook on low for a total of 4-5 hours.





Monday 2 April 2018

Sausagehenge

There is absolutely no way we could plan a trip to Stonehenge tomorrow without having Sausagehenge and mash the night before. It is such a comical way to serve up bangers and mash and the Little Larrys just loved it.




Ingredients:

Sausages
Potatoes
Peas
Gravy

Method:

Cook the sausages your favourite way then slice length-ways and serve on top of mash surrounded by peas. Make a well in the mash in the centre to pour your gravy.

The perfect gravy  for bangers and mash is marmite onion gravy and the recipe can be found here:
Marmite Onion Gravy